1. Field of the Invention
The current invention relates to a method of providing data to two or more devices on the same network from a server or another computer on a second network. More particularly, the invention relates to a method of simultaneously streaming media content to two or more client device on the same network.
2. Background Information
When two or more devices, for example computers, on the same network request a data resource (for example a file, web page or streaming media content) from another computer or server on another network there is a waste of network bandwidth if duplicate copies of the requested data resource are sent from the second network to the first network. To avoid this many networks have a proxy server or caching server that provides a shared cache for client computers on a network. When a resource is requested by a computer on a first network from a server or computer on a second network, the resource is served to the requesting computer and is stored in a cache on the network of the requesting computer. Thereafter, if another computer of the first network makes a duplicate request for the same data resource it can be served directly from the cache without transferring the request to the original data resource provider on the second network. This reduces internet gateway bandwidth requirements and speeds up resource access time for client computers on the first network.
A problem exists with the above-mentioned scheme if two or more original requests for the same data resource are initiated simultaneously from two or more client computers on the same network. If the data resource has not been previously stored in the shared cache then both requests will be sent to the original data resource server. This problem is particularly significant in the case of streaming live media content, such as video or audio programs, over the internet. Because the live content is streamed in real-time there is no, or very little, opportunity for the content to be cached before multiple requests are made and send from a first network. This can be particularly problematic for internet service providers (ISP) who provide internet access to individual consumers and often have a very large number of clients computers connected simultaneously to its internet access network. When popular live events such as sporting fixtures are streamed live on the internet a significant number of requests for the streaming content can originate from a single ISP network.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for providing data resources, and in particular streaming media content, to two or more client computers on a same network which ameliorates or substantially overcomes the above-mentioned problem. It is a further object to a present invention to provide a method of simultaneously streaming live video and audio content over the internet to two or more client computers on the same network which takes advantage of existing shared caching services of the network.